Monday, April 13, 2009

Helmut Thielicke on the Church and the (Christian) Academy

"[T]he church has the prior right to question us, even if it does not and cannot understand the details of our work; for we are pursuing our theological study in its very midst as surely as we are members of that church. Therefore these questions, even if they lack in detail some of the definite theological concerns that we entertain, may be highly relevant and constitute a fire through which we must always march. Ultimately these questions always have in mind our Christian life behind our theological reflections. They are therefore questions about our soundness in the faith. The church is our pastor." - Helmut Thielicke, A Little Exercise for Young Theologians (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1962), 25-26.

It is a wonderful book and a quick read (only 45 pp. or so). I assigned it as a textbook for Intro Greek II this semester and my students appreciated it. The only problem was that I had to keep adding "and Biblical Studies" whenever Thielicke said something about the study of theology.

About Me

But yield who will to their separation,
My object in living is to unite
My avocation and my vocation
As my two eyes make one in sight.
Only where love and need are one,
And the work is play for mortal stakes,
Is the deed ever really done
For Heaven and the future's sakes.
- Robert Frost, "Two Tramps in Mud Time"